I am Dan Wilson - a musician, songwriter and co-songwriter, producer, visual artist, and former lead singer of the band Semisonic. AMA

Hey Dan! Loved your work on Treacherous, as well as Come Back... Be Here with Taylor on Red. They're two of my favourites from that album! Really good stuff. Also a massive fan of Closing Time. Anyway, a couple of questions:

1) What was it like working with Taylor?

2) Would you (or do you have any plans to) like to work with her again?

3) When working on Closing Time, did you expect it to get as big as it did?

Taylor was great to collaborate with. Fast, fun, super-spontaneous.

Please! Tell her I'm waiting for her with notebook and acoustic guitar.

No idea "Closing Time" would be a hit. Thought it would be very useful for the bartenders of the world. And it has been!

I don't have a question. I just wanted to say thanks for Feeling Strangely Fine. I feel like as time goes on, more and more people will realize how truly brilliant that album was. "Singing in My Sleep" is one of the best pop singles to come from the decade. I feel a little overwhelmed when I hear how perfect of a tune it is. Thanks for making something in this world that means so, so much to me.

Wow. You're welcome.

Are you particularly fond of a certain song on "Love Without Fear"? Maybe one with an interesting story behind it?

I love "We Belong Together." I think it's about me and my wife and our life together. She thinks it's about me and a guy friend of mine. I like it partly because it's one of the two songs from "Love Without Fear version 1" - wherein I played all the instruments but the horns. I'm glad I re-made the album, but I'm glad those two songs survived the cut.

In closing time, when you wrote the line "I Know who I want to take me home" was there a specific person in mind?

Also, I just wanted to say, when I first heard the song FNT in Ten Things I Hate about you, I fell in love with it. To this day it's one of my favorite songs about falling in love. Did you have a specific person in mind when you wrote that song as well?

Thank you re "FNT."

"FNT" was actually about two bands that I loved (disappointing? weird? equally romantic?) - The Hangups and The Tropicals. I felt like both bands were my own little secret, and I wanted to write them a tribute.

I'd just like to say Closing Time is the song that most reminds me of the 90s.

Me too! That song totally reminds me of 1997 when I wrote and recorded it.

Your songs feature a lot of great instrumental intros, “California” “Love Without Fear”, “FNT” “Never You Mind.”

Any songwriting insights on how to do that?

Thank you! I don't know how those happen, but I do think it's important to have the hookiness start right at the beginning. So maybe I'm treating the intro as an equal section of the song.

Saw you guys play in Marshall, MN in 1998... was a great show!

also, got full use of my isuzu trooper's cargo area that night.

I have never gotten "full use" of my Subaru's cargo area.

whoah!

Dan, what song are you most proud of working on with your band? What song are you most proud of working on with another artist?

"Someone Like You" is pretty unbeatable. "Not Ready to Make Nice" - Dixie Chicks and I took on a big challenge and prevailed :) I'm really proud of those two. "Secret Smile" of Semisonic's songs, and also "California." Those seem perfect to me.

Dan, prudy please give an honest assessment of a Trip Shakespeare reunion -- new recording best hope, but a one off 1st Ave show will do just fine.

Hmmm... I'm not sure if that's going to happen or not. We sure loved playing a couple of songs for the New Standards' holiday gig this winter. The amount of effort to do "just one show" would be the same amount of effort to do a month of shows. But I can't figure out for myself at least when that month might happen. Sorry I can't be more clear or just say yes :)

How was your move to Los Angeles from Minneapolis, and how do the two cities compare?

(As a Minnesotan, I'm hoping you'll say that we're number one in your heart.)

You are number one.

LA: warmer. Incredible ethnic and racial diversity. More musical geniuses in town at one time than anywhere else. Great museums and orchestra. (Ouch, I know.) High ambition level is considered a completely normal thing.

Minneapolis: Home. Awesome amount of talent despite smaller size. Unbeatable work ethic. Great legacy of art and music for many years. The community at large there is super-supportive of the arts.

LA: road rage. Don't you know who I am?

Minneapolis: road rage. Who do you think you are?

I love Minneapolis, it'll always be my home.

Hi Dan!!!! Never You Mind is and always has been one of my all time favorite songs. WHERE ON EARTH DID THAT COME FROM? I love the intensity behind it.

Also, how was working with Rivers Cuomo? Was it as wonderful as I imagine it would be?

"Never You Mind" came from two things - one day in the studio I sat down at the piano and that intro riff just jumped out of my fingers, and I knew I had to make it into a song. And then I'd been thinking about the best way to settle a conflict and I was toying with the idea of just saying, "Hey, let's forget it!" rather than trying to talk it out. So the title, "Never You Mind," (which my grandma used to say) was next. And then the song. Glad you love it.

Can you sing us a song about reddit? Get deep into the nitty gritty stuff too!

I won't be able to process my emotions about Reddit for a few days at least. Then I'll write my Reddit song.

How did you wind up working with Adele?

That was a blind date set up by Rick Rubin, who was producing her album. He's a fan of my writing, we had worked on a bunch of records before that.

What was the meanest thing a collaborator, venue owner, promoter or record exec ever said to you about your songwriting/musicianship/etc?

I'm sure I've heard some mean stuff but I can't remember any of it. Thing is, I have a big ego, so even someone "not liking" my stuff seems super-mean to me. :)

Hello Dan. I've been following your music career since I was living in Colombia. Your lyrics helped me a lot to improve my speaking and reading. I noticed your excellent calligraphy in your recent videos, setlists and pictures. How long did it take you to learn that art?

I learned calligraphy while my daughter was in the hospital for a month last summer. I had been thinking about it a lot before that, but when her illness began I knew I'd have a lot of "downtime" at the hospital, so I bought the pens and "learned it from a guy on the internet." Hours every day for weeks. Mostly I copy a guy named Seb Lester.

Hi Dan, love the work you did for Adele. I'm a songwriter and am glad to have had a constant writing routine this time. Now I feel I've way too many songs. Do you prefer to finish every song or rather sort out before the arranging/producing starts?

Not sure you can have too many songs. Unless it's like a thousand. That would be too many. I wrote maybe 50 for my last album. 60-some for "Feeling Strangely Fine" by Semisonic. (Not all good.) That seems like a good number.

What is the best advice ever given to you?

I was at a Q&A with the painter Frank Stella. I asked him why so much bad art was in the museums. He said, "It's not your job to care about bad art. Don't worry about that. It's your job to find art that inspires you and which you love, and figure out how the artist did it."

Holy cow, Semisonic is still my favorite nostalgia-laden rock from the late 90s. Thank you so much for the awesome music. When I started playing guitar I made sure to learn some Semisonic as soon as I could!

Our music sounded nostalgic even when it was new.

I just wanted to say with every grammy you win, I get more hopeful of a Trip Shakespeare vinyl reissue.

Hmmm, you are not too far off - it's a hope of mine too, let's say.

Do you know that you share your name with one of the best defensive catchers in baseball history?

Not only do I know that, but Dan Wilson and I used to hang out at the same espresso joint on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis when he was catching for the Minnesota Gophers college baseball team. But we never net. The staff would say to me, "The other Dan Wilson just left! You missed him again!"

What was your contribution to the song, “Na Na Nothing” by Mike Doughty?

Mike Doughty heard a song that I'd written with Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue (?!?!?) called "Na Na Nothing," and he always thought it was cool. He probably thought it was cool mostly because of the super-weird combo of me and Nikki Sixx. (Which even I can't really imagine happening, though it did.) One day, he e-mailed me to say, "I ganked the chorus of that song you wrote with Nikki Sixx and used it in a new song of mine. Hope you're okay with that." Which I was, I love Mike's song and re-purposing of my chorus.

I think Mike also re-wrote a few lines of the chorus.

Hey Dan, I love your song writing. You and Chris Stapleton writing together is amazing. Any word on when he is releasing his album? I can't get enough of "The Right Ones" What is Chris like to work with?

Yay Chris Stapleton! I love that dude and his music. "The Right Ones" is a fave collaboration of mine. He and I went down to New Orleans together and wrote 6 songs with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (wow!) and then at the end we wrote "The Right Ones" for Chris to sing.

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I'd love to do something with Nico Muhly someday. I'd love to make music with Scott Hansen of Tycho someday. I love First Aid Kit, maybe they'll let me write a song with them or produce some tracks. McCartney because he's the best composer of the last hundred years.

How do you write music in band, versus as a soloist, and especially in regards to coming up with the parts for instruments other than your own?

I think the main thing is to find the right collaborators - if you want to be able to suggest a bassline to the bassist, you better find a dude who doesn't go ballistic when you do that. If you want to just do your own thing and let them do theirs, then find musicians who have the "big picture" in mind - arranger-types who understand it's not all about "turn ME up in the mix please."

Been a fan since I first heard "Toolmaster" back in the early 90's. From my username, you can probably figure out why. I've always wondered if there's a story behind that song, and how much input you personally had in it's creation?

My only contribution to "Toolmaster" was turning it from a very slow dirge that Matt had written into a rock song with a beat.

I think it might be indirectly about some cousins of ours.

How many tacos can you eat in one sitting?

three if small fish tacos.

two.

Hi Dan.

What are your thoughts on Spotify/streaming sites and the impact on the songwriting industry?

Eventually there will be only free music. Or at least the makers of the music will not be paid. But a lot of the music will still be AMAZING! And somehow the artists will make a living. That's what I think.

Years ago, I heard songs from an abandoned studio album by The Triopicals (Craig Wright and Peter Lawton) that both you and Jake Slichter played on. Can you tell me more about this album that has never been released and your involvement in it?

Awwww. I loved those Tropicals tracks we did. "The one that got away." I produced. I think jacob and I wrote the string arrangements (mostly him, probably.) Jake played drums on a few songs.

Do you have any favorite songs to play that aren't your own? As in favorite songs to cover

End of the World by Skeeter Davis

Hi Dan

I had the pleasure of interning under your friend Andy while he recorded and produced Jeremy Messersmith's "The Reluctant Graveyard". Such an amazing record and experience, I was wondering what your time was like working on "The Silver City" and how collaborating with artists who are also great songwriters compares to writing for yourself or for other people?

Also, best burger in Minneapolis?

Do they still make the Juicy Lucy at Matt's? That is a dangerous but amazing burger (the molten cheese inside the patty very hot).

Loved working on "The Silver City." I think it took way longer than Jeremy hoped, but we learned a lot and the music is awesome.

among piano and guitar, what instruments do you play? are you self taught or did you take lessons? and any advice for artists looking to branch out?

Took a few guitar lessons. Mostly self-taught.

Took years and years of piano lessons, including jazz piano for a year. Not self-taught. A good counter-balance.

I remember seeing a video of you working on your songwriting with a lot of 3 x 5 index cards, what role do they they play in your creative process?

I have a pile of a hundred or so index cards with titles or couplets of lyrics or melody ideas written on them in pencil. On days when I don't know what to write about, I randomly take a card from the pile and see if it inspires me. If not, I keep turning the cards over until one of them inspires, and then I finish that song.

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Ha ha! No, I think the Toolmaster was a fictional character in my brother Matt's mind.

Hi Dan, my familiy and I are fans of yours for years. My wife loves the 'Mrs. Clause' song. Is there a chance you will release it on CD? How about a Christmas album?😉

I love "Mrs. Claus" too. Wrote it with Craig Wright, who used to be in The Tropicals, now he writes movies ("Mr. Peabody") and TV shows ("Six Feet Under," "Brothers and Sisters," "Lost," "Dirty Sexy Money.") I've been thinking about asking Craig to write a few more Christmas songs with me.

Hello from a fellow Minnesotan. What are you favorite venues around town that might be overlooked?

The Aster Cafe in Minneapolis is nice. Hmmm... I bet you know more than I do - I've lived in LA for almost 4 years!

No pun intended, what's an example of a specific "sonic" moment in one of your songs just makes you really happy? Like a drum fill, a synth intro, a cadence in a vocal or something?

About 3/4 of the way through "California" by Semisonic, the drums get quiet and everything becomes small and crackly, and then it sounds like the music is tearing through a giant wall. I love that.

Hey Dan! been a huge fan since I first heard Feeling Strangely Fine in 98 (Semisonic has since become my favorite band by far and I pretty much listen to anything you, Matt or John are involved with.) Your music has been a huge part of my life. Not only have you inspired me to create my own music, but my dad and I have bonded over many trips we’ve taken around the Midwest to catch shows of yours (both solo and Semisonic reunions.) I’ve got more than my fair share of questions (I figure when else do I have an opportunity like this to rattle off a bunch of questions, right?) so feel free to pick any you’d care to answer.

• On the new Ben Folds Five album you’re credited as “Philosopher.” How did that meeting come about? Just a casual get together? A co-writing pow-wow? They’re another of my favorite bands and I was really surprised to see your name in there.

• Is there one song you can point to (co-write or otherwise) that you point to as the song that makes you most proud?

• Producers often have a particular sound (see: Jeff Lynne.) Do you think there is a particular “Dan Wilson-y” sound that you bring to the table when you produce an album/song? Or is it dependent upon the artist?

• What inspired your recent interest in calligraphy?

• I don’t know how this would work legality-wise, but I enjoy your Songs From the Ballroom series. Any chance some old Semisonic nuggets make their way out to fans? I know you write dozens of songs per album and I’ve always wondered if there were some songs that were close to making albums that just didn’t fit for one reason or another. I’ve always wanted a rarities album, but realized that was a long shot…

• The question you’ve been asked a million times since 2003 that’s about to get asked again in 2014: any real chance of a new Semisonic album in the not-too-distant-future? I feel like you, John and Jake have gotten progressively busier over the years so it might be out of the question?

• Can you separate yourself from a Trip Shakespeare/Semisonic/solo album enough to listen to yourself casually by yourself?

Thanks for doing this AMA. I really think a songwriter such as yourself deserves to be in the spotlight more than you already are and hopefully you get some new exposure this way. Also: thanks for being a cool dude each time I’ve interacted with/met you in the past. It always worries me to meet musical heroes of mine and then get the wind taken out of my sails when I find out they’re asshats. You deserve all the best and I’m looking forward to Love Without Fear!

Oh and I'm glad you liked the "songs from the ballroom" free track series. Hey, I like the idea of doing that with Semisonic songs! Maybe that will be the next thing, rather than a DW "songs from the ballroom part 2."

Down with asshats! No time for them!

Ben Folds and I got together to write some songs but we ended up having several long conversations about music and why we make it and what it's good for, etc etc... and then he surprised me with the credit "Philosopher" on the recent BFFive album. I think that's my favorite credit ever!

What time, exactly, is closing time?

It's always closing time somewhere.

Why did you decide to do a PledgeMusic campaign? Is it something you'd recommend to other artists?

I did the PledgeMusic campaign mostly because my friends who had done them said it was awesome. What I wasn't expecting was how cool it would be to create all the bonus items, artworks, deluxe album book - it's been a gas to have all these interesting art projects to do. Hard work but super fun.

If you ran a bar what exact time would closing time be for said bar?

But we'd play "closing time" 24/7.

My bar would never close, baby.

What were some major label contemporaries from your Semisonic days that you really respected, thought were awesome, but somehow didn't manage to find an audience?

I probably didn't notice the most obscure ones... So these will be who I loved and thought could be huger. I loved Fountains of Wayne, Liz Phair (the best), Soul Coughing, Iffy, Magnetic Fields...

When you sit down for a writing session, do you aim to write about a specific emotion or event or topic, and write about that, or do you just sit with pen and paper and wait to see what comes?

Usually talk about "what's up" for quite a while. Play each other stuff on Youtube we've been listening to. Show and tell a few new songs... Get a feel for where it might go. Then, start talking about ideas. Often the conversation contained three or four great topics or titles for a song already.

Do you wake up with music in your head? How do you get it down before you lose it?

I always used to have a little memo device for this purpose. I'd wake up with a melody in my head and record it right away. Now I use my phone's Voice Memo application.

who have you been listening to lately?

Tycho's new album "Awake" is AMAZING Beck's new album "Morning Phase" is AMAZING!!!!!! Beethoven's opus 59, no. 1 String quartet by Orion quartet is AMAZING!!! Those three

Semisonic is basically the soundtrack to my formative years- from convincing all of my friends to buy Great Divide after getting a copy from my dad's music distribution buddies to getting frustrated that everyone boiled the band down to the (admittedly great) "Closing Time" to blasting "Chemistry" in my Wrangler as I drove around campus in college- I just wanted to say thank you. (and thanks for being so very gracious on Twitter- you're brilliant to your fan-followers, truly.) But for all the "how was it to work with" questions, I have to ask about one of my favorite songwriters ever- Carole King. "One True Love" is so beautiful and just as soul-searching as it is light. What was it like to write and sing with her?

Thank you. Carole King was gracious, funny, put me at ease, got down to business. Writing with her was like a master class, but we got a great song at the end. And we've been in touch on and off since then. What a classy, funny, fearless, brilliant person. Lucky me to run into her so early in my writing career.

When can I expect the Love Monsters reunion? "Ah Rebecca, baby doll inspector!"

That ain't gonna happen but you just made me smile very happily.

As a songwriter, are there any songs out there you wish you had written? Not because it was popular and made a lot of money, but a song that touched you so deeply that you wish you had composed it instead?

"Crazy" By Gnarls Barclay gave me that feeling. "Somebody that I Used to Know" by Gotye gave me that feeling in a big way.

What brand(s) of insruments do you prefer to play?

Gibson acoustic guitars from the 1950's are the best.

I know my comment is going to be buried but I just want to say I love your work. Everything from Tripp Shakespeare to the songs you written for others. Free life is under my number two most listened to album on last.fm and I'm trying to convince my boyfriend for Lullaby to be our wedding song. I even read Jacob Slichter book. I don't have any questions but I just want to say how much I love your music, I'm looking forward to your new album and hope to see you live one day.

Thank you for your buried comment. I appreciate it a lot.

When you write a song, do you write it out on staff paper, or memorize the parts as you come up with them, or something else entirely for that matter?

I can read staff paper but what I do is really folk music, it's supposed to work by memory. So I just write down the lyrics and remember the melody and chords. If I can't remember the melody the next day from just reading the lyrics, it's probably not that great of a melody.

Do you have any advice on arranging and recording songs? When you record at home, how do you do it (that sounds silly), and more realistically, what would you recommend to someone who isn't already a world famous artist? Thanks!

Record music for a purpose. Hopefully the purpose involves an audience, rather than an audition. Record music for your friends and whatever fans you might have. Don't spend too much time recording music for "gate-keepers" or kingmakers or mucky mucks. Waste of time. Make music for people to use in their lives. In car, in club, while washing dishes, during sex. Be useful :)

I know this can be interpreted as a pretty nebulous question, but what does music mean to you personally? It can mean so many different things to so many people...

Music is to me the key to the meaning of life. I feel that music is to me what religion is to very religious people. I think it's the intersection between our minds/bodies and the intentions of whatever forces created us.

Totally serious about this.

Have you ever had a terrible writing session or have you turned one down because of the other artist's attitude, reputation, ego, etc.?

I turn down sessions all the time. Sometimes because the person has a reputation of not showing up reliably. Sometimes because I get the feeling they're not actually into co-writing. But usually it's because I'm too damn busy, even to do the stuff I really want to do! Most people who make music and dream of a career as a recording artist are pretty nice. I've had 99% happy, pleasant collaborations. Lucky? Or just because I love musicians? Anyway, the bad ones are rarer than rare.

What song have you written do you wish more fans would recognize you for? What was the first song you wrote where you were like "hey, I'm pretty good at this songwriting thing - maybe good enough to be on the radio."

"All Will Be Well" by Gabe Dixon and me - that's one of my faves and very few people have heard it. I did fine with "Treacherous" by me and Taylor Swift, but I actually wish more people could hear that song. First song where I thought, "I can do this": "Temptation" by Semisonic

I love all will be well, that line, "you can ask me how but only time will tell" is probably the most encouraging thing i've ever heard. I use it as a motto, so thank you for that! PS, you're recording on Live at the Pantages is my favorite one of that song, so thanks for that too :)

A friend of mine who died last week asked me to sing "All Will Be Well" at her memorial next week. We'll see what that song means in that setting.

When did you realize that you finally "made it"?

That is awesome news because now I can relax or take a vacation or something.

I've "made it"?

Dan, what's your advice for musicians that want to start working as songwriter?

Get good: Write lots of songs. LOTS! Get in front of an audience, even if your plan is not to be a performer, and show them your songs. These are the two main ways to get good. Have friends: Write hits for your friends to sing. (At least write things you think are hits.) Help other people with their music. Hang out. Set up shows with friends. Write songs with friends. Don't worry too much about networking with already-massive artists. Your friends will be massive in time.

I fuckin love your third eye blind song "closing time", how did you come up with that one?

Sorry dude that joke was already used in the movie "Friends With Benefits." It was funny that time :)